€100bn European deal for cleantech, battery recycling
The European Commission is aiming to boost the development and scaling up of clean technologies and recycling of materials in a €100bn ‘clean industrial deal’ and a Circular Economy Act.
The deal also includes more focus on grid technologies for a single grid across Europe, as well as simplifying engagement for small and medium sized companies.
“Europe has got talent. We produce one quarter of all clean tech patents in the world. That is more than both the US and China,” said Ursula von der lyen, president of the Commission.
“Europe has top-class infrastructure, and we are investing in it. Take the hydrogen sector. Last year, final investment decisions on electrolysers in Europe quadrupled compared to the year before. That is the fastest growth worldwide. Europe has a clear roadmap, and we stay the course.”
“We want to invest more than ever in innovation. Europe is a frontrunner in the global race for clean tech. Here in Europe, we have 30% of all innovative companies in electrolyser technologies, 20% for carbon capture and storage, and even 40% for wind and heat pump technology. This is where we can really beat global competition,” she said.
“But too often, these companies struggle to grow, and to bring their solutions to industrial scale. They need access to finance. So, we need to mobilise much more private and public investment.”
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Every call for the current Innovation Fund, around €4bn per year, is heavily oversubscribed, so the commission wants to mobilise up to €100 billion, to establish a new Decarbonisation Bank.
“In addition, we will present a new State aid framework. State aid for decarbonisation and clean tech will be approved faster, and it will last longer, to give more predictability, and speed up innovation,” she said.
Recycling has a specific focus, particularly with the deal between Ukraine and the US to be signed later this week.
“One third of all circular technology companies are European. And some of them are present in this room. More than 50% of our steel, iron, zinc, or platinum are made from scrap. And this covers more than 25% of European consumption. But we need to go faster and further,” she said.
She points to China controlling 80% of the global battery recycling capacity. “Instead, end-of-life batteries could provide almost 15% of the lithium we need already in 2030. That is enough to produce two million batteries for EVs.”
“To support this movement, we will present a Circular Economy Act. We have to keep critical raw materials waste in Europe and give it new life. This is not only good for the planet, it also supports our strategic autonomy.”
The aim is also to create a single electricity grid across Europe so that energy can be moved from where it is produces to where it is needed. The cost of managing grid congestion, mainly from re-dispatching, reached a peak of €5.2 billion in 2022 and could rise to €26 billion by 2030.
“This is about accelerating the roll-out of clean energy and electrification, completing interconnections and grids. Earlier this month, I was in Lithuania to celebrate their newly won energy independence. They finally decoupled their electricity grid from Russia and integrated fully into the European grid. For the Baltics, this is not only about energy. It is about sovereignty. It is vital and it is strategic. We should do the same on our entire continent: connect our energy systems, upgrade our grids, speed up permitting and make our low-carbon energy available all across Europe.”
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